Sorbent sheet materials are well known in the art. U.S. Pat. No. 4,429,001 describes sorbent sheet materials comprising a coherent web of entangled blown fibers prepared by extruding liquid fiber-forming material into a high velocity gaseous stream and an array of super absorbent polymeric particles dispersed within the web. European Patent Application No. 85302166.5 describes sorbent sheet products comprising a coherent web that includes entangled blown fibers and liquid transport fibers intermingled with the blown fibers and an array of solid high sorbency liquid sorbent polymeric particles uniformly dispersed and physically held within the web.
These sorbent sheet materials have been found to have a variety of uses, particularly where rapid sorption and high liquid retention are desired, such as in disposable incontinent devices, diapers, surgical swabs, bed pads and sanitary napkins.
What has not been heretofore recognized is that the ability of these materials to absorb large quantities of liquid makes them useful in devices to be used as evaporative coolants. Many materials that are currently used as evaporative coolants, such as sponges, terry cloth towels and cotton wads, absorb and hold relatively small quantities of liquid and exert a cooling effect of very limited duration.
Other materials such as that typified by the polyvinylalcohol gel-containing bandage disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,377,160 are not as convenient as they might be since they must be manufactured in the hydrated state and are not reusable practicably.
In contrast to the above described evaporative coolants, the sorbent sheet materials described herein absorb relatively large quantities of liquid, and, therefore, exert a cooling effect for an extended period of time, and are furthermore convenient to manufacture and use since they are hydrated just prior to use and are reusable.